Kalkin

In Hinduism, Kalkin (meaning "eternity" or 'time"; also rendered as Kalki or Kalika) is the tenth and final Avatar of the Preserver God Vishnu. Kalki's arrival will mark the end the current epoch, the Kali Yuga, (The Age of Darkness and Destruction). The origins of the name probably lie in the word Kalka which refers to "dirt", "filth" or "foulness" and hence denotes the idea that Kalkin is the "Destroyer of Foulness" or "The Annihilator of Ignorance". In Hindi kal ki avatar means "tomorrow's avatar". As could be expected, the mythology of Kalki is surrounded by much eschatological imagery. Kalki is often referred to as "the white horse", and is commonly depicted as Vishnu mounted upon a such an animal wielding a scimitar. Divergent etymological derivations have been made suggesting the name Kalkin derived from the term for white horse. The name Kalki is often a metaphor for "Eternity" or "Time".

Myth and Depiction

In Sanskrit, avatara means "descent", though the term has been extended through centuries to take cosmological implications, referring to the descent of the divinity into manifestations of the mundane form. Although several gods within Hinduism are said to have had avatars, such as Shiva, the term is most ubiquitously related to Vishnu, the sustainer of life in the Hindu trinity. Vishnu is said to have had ten incarnations, or dasavatara: 1) Matsya, a fish; 2) Kurma, a turtle; 3) Varaha, a boar; 4) Narasingha, a lion-man, 5) Vamana, a little person, 6) Parasu Rama, a primitive man, 7) Rama, a noble man, 8) Krishna, a mentally superior man, 9) Buddha, a spiritually enlightened man, and finally 10) Kalkin, the horse. Kalki is the only one of the avatars who has not yet arrived, and thus his arrival is highly anticipated by Vaishnavites, followers of Vishnu.

Due to Kalkin's pending arrival, he is the most mysterious of the avatars. As with the prophecies of many traditions there are many diverse beliefs and depictions as to when, how, where and why he will appear, as well as speculations as to the Divine purpose his descent will aim to fulfill. Most common accounts declare Kalki will arrive on earth intent on eradicating the reign of evil on the Earth. First he will vanquish the demon Kali, then reconcile all opposites, and then renew the processes of the Dharma (Paths of Virtue) and Creation. Ultimately, he will establishing a reign of righteousness upon the earth.

The popular image of the Avatar is that of a rider upon a white horse, which some sources name as Devadatta (God-given). Commonly, the horse is described as having wings. Kalki himself is described as being a "yantra-manava", or a machine-man. He brandishes a flaming comet-like sword, which is sometimes interpreted as a symbol for "discernment", or Wisdom, in that it slices away the bonds of lies and foulness, and liberates souls by piquing their awareness of truth and beauty.

Origins of the Kalki prophecy

One of the earliest mentions of Kalkin is in the Vishnu Purana, which is thought to have originated around the 7th Century C.E. Here, the Kali age is described in detail, as a time when all virtue has departed the world. This is due mostly to the invasion of India by barbarian outsiders, or Mleccha. Women, children and cows will be slaughtered with regularity. People will live for the accumulation of materials above everything else, and intimate relationships will degrade to loveless objectification as the earth approaches its destruction. The Vishnu Purana states:

When the practices taught by the Vedas and the institutes of law shall nearly have ceased, and the close of the Kali age shall be nigh, a portion of that divine being who exists of his own spiritual nature in the character of Brahma, and who is the beginning and the end, and who comprehends all things shall descend upon earth: he will be born as Kalki in the family of an eminent Brahmin of Shambala village (...) By his irresistible might he will destroy all the Mlecchas and theives, and all whose minds are devoted to iniquity. He will then reestablish righteousness upon earth (Vishnu Purana, IV: 24).

Kalki is also mentioned in the the Agni Purana, whichs draw upon the Vishnu Purana to again describe the future before Kalkin where ignorance will abound, with men marrying outside their caste, Vedic sacrifices being eschewed, and barbarians occupying India. A later work, the Kalki Purana, provides further exposition of the expectations and predictions of when, where, and why Kalkin will come, and what he is expected to do. This work celebrates the defeat of traditions that are deemed heretical for not adhering closely enough to the traditions of the Vedas, such as Buddhism and Jainism.

The Kalki within

Drawing on symbolic and metaphoric interpretations of the Buddhist Kalachakra, Shambhala, and Bodhisattva traditions at least as much as the Hindu prophecies, interpretations of the Kalki legends in ways that do not necessarily apply the designation "Kalki" uniquely to any particular person have arisen. In such interpretations "Kalki" is seen primarily as an archetypal symbol of what can be manifest in any person, whether man, woman, or child. ^{[citation needed]}

It is a designation of spiritual repose and vigor, a "beautiful life essence", impelling people to follow diverse and harmonious paths of virtue, rather than needlessly harsh and destructive paths of bigotry and narrow minded presumptions. To those who embrace this view the term Kalki can refer to an attitude or quality of awareness that will be manifest in many enlightened people, who perceive beyond Maya (the appearances of Space and Time) and into Eternity in ways that are both rational and mystical in nature. A level of Awareness where people become destroyers of the uncharitable ways of bigotry within themselves which would otherwise lead them to unjustly oppress others, and limit themselves.

In such interpretations everyone who is enlightened enough to follow the ways of ultimate honesty and ultimate love can be declared to be an honorable manifestation of Vishnu the preserver of Life, and Kalki the Destroyer of Foulness … but no one person can be declared to be the ultimate manifestation…or the ultimate teacher for all people. There are many ways to point out some of the worst confusions that afflict human minds and souls, and for anyone to think that there is only one greatest and most perfect way for all, (which is of course their own), and that all others must be scorned, shunned, denigrated and vilified is itself one of the worst and most dangerous confusions that afflict many who are spiritually weak, ignorant, cowardly and vain.

It is emphasized that much is required in many spiritual paths, but the most important of all requirements are the will to speak the truth, and the capacity to love any who perceive the truth and become devoted to it, no matter how troublesome, misguided, dishonest and dangerous they may initially be. One can not force change upon others, but one can give them the information and opportunity by which they can come to desire beneficial change themselves.

Each person who is wisely charitable, "riding the white horses" of fate's flow, and wielding the deceit destroying "sword" of honesty can become a "Kalki" — a destroyer of such foulness as could dwell within themselves first and foremost, that they may more ably assist others in destroying the capacities for evil within themselves.^{[citation needed]}

Each person is considered a potential spiritual ruler of their own manifest span of mortal life, a universe to themselves connected to all others by bonds of awareness and sympathy; a person of utmost integrity, perceiving many connections between all people, all events, all ideas and all souls, and therefore affirming that respect for the individual integrity of all other mortals as an imperative of their own. The Kali Yuga can end within them, no matter how long it may persist in others, and a Satya Yuga of wisdom begins within their life, enabling them to help others to find their own unique paths towards enlightenment, and into their own ranges of contentment.^{[citation needed]}

In Buddhism

In the Buddhist Kalachakra tradition this legend has a more developed legend associated with the Buddha avatar who initiates the first king of Shambhala, King Suchandra.^{[citation needed]} In Buddhism, this avatar is generally called Kulika, and he is the ruler of the legendary Kingdom of Shambhala, where the whole of society is enlighted and the Kalachakra tantra is held and widely practiced.

It has been theorized that the Kalki Purana may have been written as a Hindu response to the Buddhist prophecies within the Kalachakra Tantra of many leaders with the name or title of Kalki. Followers of Tibetan Buddhism have preserved the Kalachakra Tantra, and initiation rites based upon it are a prominent part of the Tibetan traditions. In the Kalachakra Tantra Kalki (or Kalaki, or Kulika) is declared to be a title or name of at least 25 future rulers of the mystical realm of Shambhala. The aims and actions of some of these are prophesied in portions of the work and some identify the 25th Kalki as the Maitreya Buddha who brings about world-wide enlightenment.

Modern variations of the Kalki prophecy

Theosophy and Christianity

Some Theosophists and New Age speculators have declared the Kalki prophecies and those of the Maitreya Buddha of Buddhism, might actually refer to one and the same individual, and they and others have noted similarities of the Kalki prophecy to the Rider on the White Horse in the Christian book of Revelation who defeats the Antichrist Rev 19:11. In such interpretations the sword of Kalki is equated to the two-edged sword that proceeds from the mouth of this apocalyptic figure, and is often symbolically interpreted to be the swordlike effectiveness of words of truth against all manner of lies and deceptions. Kalki is also said to war with the twin demons Koka and Vikoka, similar to Gog and Magog who will attack the utopia established by the rider on the white horse at the his thousand year reign on earth Rev 20:7-8.

Neo-Nazism

Extending upon the bleakness of the Kalki Purana, aggressive and violent interpretations of the Kalki prophecies also exist. Adolf Hitler is well known to have incorporated myths, legends, and symbols he felt have Aryan origins into his own Nazi mysticism. Some such as Savitri Devi Mukherji believe the Kalki prophecies, among others, referred to Hitler and predict the ultimate worldwide military triumph of his Nazi Third Reich. There is currently a Neo-Nazi group in Argentina that operates under the name "Red Kalki", and other fascist, racist and ethnocentric groups still incorporate the concept of Kalki into their mythos. To raise awareness of this subterfuge the musical group Current 93 recorded a song "Hitler as Kalki (SDM)" for their album Thunder Perfect Mind, which the writer David Tibet dedicated to his father who fought against the Nazis.^{[citation needed]}

Gore Vidal

The author Gore Vidal, known for his dark witty cynicism in such works as Messiah, Live from Golgotha and other novels, wrote an extremely nightmarish and depressing satire on modern society, human motivations, and the potential consequences of extreme complacency, indifference, delusion, deceitfulness, and jealousy entitled Kalki (1978).^{[citation needed]}

Claims of being Kalki

In the last few decades several leaders of relatively small religious movements in India, and a few outside of it, including some women, have at times claimed to be the Kalki Avatar of Hinduism, or their followers have declared them to be Kalki. However these remain as petty claims and have not received mainstream support or recognition.^{[citation needed]}

• Some adherents of the Bahá'í Faith have interpreted the prophecies as having referred to their prophet Bahá'u'lláh.
• Meher Baba also stated that he was the Kalki Avatar.
• Cosmologist Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet contends that Sri Aurobindo was the ninth of the Hindu Line of Ten, and that he was reborn as Kalki, the Tenth.
• Sri Kalki Bhagavan who is the leader of the Golden Age Foundation, also called the Oneness movement, is considered by some to be the Kalki Avatar.
• American guru Adi Da has claimed to be the Kalki Avatar, briefly changing his name to "Da Kalki" from 1990 to 1991.

Other meanings of Kalki

• The name Kalki is also used as a relatively rare personal name that has been given to both male and female children, and recently, a rare and somewhat untamable leopard [1].

• Kalki was the primary pseudonym used by Tamil writer R. Krishnamurthy.

• Playa Kalki is a beach on the Caribbean island of Curaçao, also curiously known as "Alice in Wonderland".

• Kalki is the name of the female lead character played by Tulip Joshi in Indian Director Manish Jha's widely acclaimed motion picture Matrubhoomi: A Nation Without Women, about a society where women have become rare because of infanticide, and are treated as a commodity. Reviewed at : Stardust India - Planet Bollywood - Countercurrents - Imagine Asia - Toronto Film Festival

• Kalki is the stage name of Kostandin Georgiev, a Bulgarian musician and dentist who is in the Guinness Book of Records for the highest music concert ever performed, which occurred in 1996 on a peak near Mount Everest.
• Vikram Gahlot, an Indian born in 1984, is the latest to lay claim to being the Kalki avatar himself.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Kalki Purana
• Kali (Demon)
• Koka and Vikoka
• Shambhala
• Kalachakra
• Suchandra

External links

Interpretations of the Kalki Avatar

• Kalki, or Sri Kalki Bhagavan, the founder of the Golden Age Foundation in India, is considered to be the living Avatar capable of giving enlightenment.
• Kalki Avatar, the Coming Prophet (Essay by Swami Amar Jyoti)
• Kalki in Indian Mythology 1 2
• Various views on Kalki
• Religious Policies of the 25 Kalki rulers
• Kalki Temple in Jaipur
• Buddha & Kalki
• A Theosophical Interpretation: "Kalki Maitreya"
• Theosophical Glossary
• Kalki, The Last Avatar
• Hindu Prophecies: Translations from the Kalki Purana
• A Hindu rebuttal of the idea that Muhammad was Kalki
• Comments on the Kalki Purana
• Messianic Themes in traditions of Northwest India
• The History of the Kalachakra Tantra
• The Archives of Alexander Berzin - Kalachakra Section
• Averted apocalypse: Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Gandhi/Kalki
• Translations from the Kalki Purana and similarities with Biblical and other prophecies
• The All Merciful God who has descended on Earth to save Mankind and our Planet
• Perspective on Kalki

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